Things to Do in Bethel Park

A still figure stands silently behind a few thin trees. When he sees someone emerging from a long, metal tube several yards away, he takes aim with his marker, squeezes the trigger, and watches a blot of brightly colored paint materialize on his friend's shoulder. Such friend-turned-foe scenarios play out daily at Urban Assault, a paintball facility whose outdoor battlefields in Cecil and indoor arenas in McDonald attract players from all around the area. In the outdoor arenas, the surrounding wooded landscape adds variety of terrain and barricade possibilities, letting staffers add touches such as metal crawl tubes and other strategic bits of architecture that paintballers have come to depend on for cover. The competitors engage in open play on five such outdoor fields—each with unique features—as well as in the company's two indoor spaces that total some 30,000 square feet. Indoors, paintball contests go from sparsely adorned to almost disco-like as players stalk their enemies while traipsing across catwalks and navigating a demanding maze of fog machines, black lights, and adrenaline-boosting music inside one of the fields. The brains behind Urban Assault also offer special rates to large groups, military veterans, and members of the CIA's finger-painting brigade.

Steel City Airsoft's safety-conscious staff hosts adrenaline-pumping showdowns for recreational warriors as well as for law enforcement or military groups looking to train in a close-quarters, indoor environment. A modular building design allows staffers to reorient the walls, hallways, and doorways that honeycomb the 15,000-square-foot facility, ensuring unpredictable, action-packed bouts amid a hail of whistling pellets. With an emphasis on responsible play, the staff members steadfastly enforce the facility's rules and advise patrons either to wear clothing that covers any bare skin or to don their family's coat of arms. Steel City Airsoft is open on Fridays from 5 p.m.–midnight, Saturdays from noon to midnight, and Sundays from noon to 10 p.m.

Pittsburgh Magazine fills subscribers' mailboxes with 13 annual issues detailing the city's food, business, sports, and culture. In featured issues, writers highlight recent local human-interest stories, guides to weekend getaways, and spotlights on eclectic spots, famous cemeteries, or the place where Fred Rogers became Mr. Rogers after donning a radioactive sweater. Each year, the Best of the 'Burgh poll lets readers anoint their favorite city eateries, entertainment, and other local merchants.

The Pittsburgh Tour Company's guides cart guests around on classic red double-decker buses straight out of London. These experienced guides divulge interesting factoids along the tour's 21 stops, which include a fish market, Heinz Field, and the city’s depository of old chewing gum that has been scraped off school desks. The company's fleet of four buses offers up the chance to view the city from the second story of closed or open bus tops.

Segway in Paradise's gliding tour guides are expert multitaskers, effortlessly sharing historical tidbits with fleets of tourists while leading them through the streets of Pittsburgh atop smooth-rolling segways. The fun and educational tours, which helped the company earn praise from publications such as the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, run as frequently as three to five times a day, and escort two-wheelers past such locations as PNC Park and the River Walk fountain. The tour routinely stops for photo opportunities in front of the city's picturesque skyline. When groups cross where the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers meet, they can toss coins into the water and wish that their segways might one day earn a pair of metallic wings.

The folks who run Clayful Pottery’s studio don’t buy it when someone claims they aren’t creative. They believe that anyone regardless of their age or experience level can create works of art given the freedom and opportunity. Within a studio decked out in vibrant green hues and hand-painted wallflowers, guests unleash their hidden artistry on blank canvases in the form of plates, cups, vases, and decorative animal figurines, decorating them with their favorite colors, designs, or algebraic equations. The friendly staffers then fire and glaze ceramic masterpieces, readying them for pickup a week later. Staff members outfit guests with all the necessary supplies and advice during open studio sessions, as well as coordinate corporate events, bridal showers, and birthday parties, all of which can be held in one of two party rooms.